Surface covering and method of making the same



Nov. 25, 1930. w. FREEGARD 1,732,416

SURFACE COVERING AND METHOD OF MAKING. THE SAME Filed Jan. 14, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet l WITNESS.

Nov. 25, 1930. w. FREEGARD 1,732,416

SURFACE COVERING AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Jan. 14, 1928ZSheets-Sheet 2 lAWE/Vfdl? WIT/V558.

7/ F76 ara W W/ J Patented Nov. 25, 1930.

r UNITED STATES PATENT orr ca?" wrLLIaiirBEueAn-n, or ELIZABETH, NEWJERSEY, AssIeNoR roman banana ASPHALT COMPANY, or rrunannnrma,PENNSYLVANIA, A coaroaa'rron'orf j WES'1 VIRGINIA,

' summon covnnme AND METHOD or Mums THE lpplicati on filed January.14,-1928. Serial No. 246,712.

1 This inventionrelates to a surface covering of the typeapplicable. tothe roofs or walls of buildings and to the shingles constituting suchcovering and a method of making the same.

The use of shingles of felt impregnated i with bitumen or tar permitsthe construction of very satisfactory roofsor walls which are rain andwindproof, such shingles 'being cheaper and more easily applied than therigid slate or wooden shingles formerly much used. Because of theirlightness andflexi bility, however, they are apt to be raised a'nd'freedfrom the foundation by wind unless 16 securely fastened in position.

no. object of the present invention is, accordingly, the

rovision of an improved surface covering 1n which such shingles aresecurely held in place.

'80 Another object of this invention is the provision of an improvedshingle having the capacity for covering a maximum area when built intoa surface covering of the type mentioned above.

B5 A further object is the rovi'sion' of a method of constructing shinges froma strip of sheet material with the maximum economy of materialand minimum of labor.

' Other more-specificobjects and advanta es scription read inconjunction with the accom- Fig. 5 is a view similanto Fig. 2illustrating the method of cutting still another modification of theimproved shingle from a strip.

Referring first to Figures 1, 2, and 3, one form of the improved-shingle is designated by the numeral. 2. This shingle-is ofsubstantially square shape, having fourprinwill be apparent from the.following ecipaledges arranged at right angles'and. equally spaced insquare form and, when assembled as shown in Fig; 1, appears as a squareshingle with the lower corner truncated. When diagonals of the shingleare hereinafter referred to it willbe understood that the -diagonals ofthe parallelo ram formed by the principal edfge's produce are meant. Theshingle itsel ascut from a sheet of material, difiers from square shapein having a tab at its lower cornerand a cut away side corner. The tabwhich is indicated at 4 is of rectangular shape having a straight bottomedge '6 and side-ed v is adapted to be bent beneath the ody (por:

tion of the shingle about a line define corner 12 of the shi le. y I Oneof the side corners of the shingle 2 is s 8,'and" the inner ends of aplurality of slits 10 formed, n the shingle. It will be noted that,tab4Q 1s symmetrical about a diagonal through 1 cut away, as shown in Fi 3,formlng' an edge 16 extending paralle to the diagonal through corner 1aand ed cs 18 and 20 extending parallel to the iagonal through corner'12. The construction and purposes of these edges will be.a parenthereafter duri the description of t e assembly of the I shing es. Y v

The shingles described above ma be made fromv a strip 22 of impre likehaving, if desired, a mmeralized surface. Horizontal. cuts 24 and 26 aremade-frem opposite edges of strip 22 and further cuts are made down thecenter of the strip and to form the tabs as shown in Fig. 2. As'

shown in that figure, opposite shingles are relatively displaced to adirection of the length of the strip whereby the contacting tabs arethrown out of di I onal alignment sufficiently to form a shoul er ineach shingle by edges 16 and 20.-

Although strip 22 is shown as having a width'just twice that of ashingle. measured between opposite edges thereof, .it will be ated eltor the s lght degree in the i obvious thata wider strip may-be used fromwhich four, six or more rows of shingles mightbe cut in a similarmanner.

- 'Referring now to Fig. '1 in which a: num-' her of shingles aresliownassembled to form 100 a roof or wall covering, it will be seen that theShingles are laid in horizontal rows with tabs downwardly disposed. Ashingle 28 which overlaps two shingles 30 and 32 of the next lower rowhas its tab 4 inturned beneath the adjacent corners of shingles 30 and32, the lower sloping edges of shingles 30 and 32 entering slots 10 ofshingle 28 whereby a secure engagement of the lower corner of shingle 28is obtained. The shingles are secured to the foundation by suitablenails 34 or the like.

.The object of the relative displacement of the opposite shingles duringcutting from strip 22 will be apparent if the result obtained by cuttingthem directly opposite each other is considered. If the are so cut, noedge 16 willbe formed an edges 18 and 20 will be aligned as a singleedge. If the shingles thus produced were laid as shown in Fig. 1, itwould be necessary to place adjacent shingles 30 and 32 closer togetherthan they ,would be if corner 14 of shingle 30 touched the corner whichwould be produced by extending the upper and lower principal edges atthe left of shingle 32. If they were not so positioned, the right handend of tab 4 of s ingle 28 would fail to engage shingle 32. On the otherhand, by cutting the shingles in the manner shown, there is formed aprojection between edges 16 and 20 which is engaged by tab 4 even thoughthe shingles 30 and 32 are placed further apart than the positions withtheir corners touching, (the corner of shingle 32 bein defined by themeeting of the roduced edges as described above). By cutting theshingles as described, an economy of material is obtained since not onlyis there practically no waste in a strip of material from which they arecut, but also a smaller number of shingles is required to cover a givenarea by reason of the possibility of increasing the spacing.

But cutting shingles 2 as shown in Fig. 2 it will be noted that edge 16is formed somewhat above the diagonal through the opposite corner 14. Itis desirable that the workman who places the shingles in position shouldhave some means by which he could gauge the proper positioning ofadjacent shingles. A convenient method of accomplishing this result isto have edge 16 formed on the horizontal diagonal of the shingle so thatthe corner 14 of a shingle 30 would be aligned with edge 16 of anadjacent shingle 32. Edge 16 may be cut down to the diagonal by aseparate cutting operation or by a cutting operation simultaneous withthe cutting of the shingles from strip 22, such simultaneous cuttingbein preferably accomplished without waste 0? material or formation ofscraps in the manner indicated in connection g vith 5a slightlydifferent type of shingle in In Fig. 5 is shown the method of cuttingshingles oflozenge shape rather than square shape from a strip ofmaterial, parallel cuts 36 and 38 formin other than right angles withthe edges of t e strip being made therein also being relativelydisplaced in the len hwise direction of the strip. In this modi cationshoulders 42 are formed along the diagonals of the shingles, the tabsaccordingly having their lower edges formed by sloping portions 44 andportions 46 extending parallel to the diagonals. I

A shingle having its adjacent principal edges intersecting at rightangles and havlng a tab and shoulder similar to those in Fig. 5 is shownin Fig. 4, the corresponding parts being designated by the samereference numerals. The shingles shown in Figs. 4 and 5 r nay beconveniently placed with the right hand corner of one alignedhorizontally with edge 42 of an adjacent shingle.

While the lozenge shaped shingle is shown only with an unsymmetricaltab, it will be obvious that such shingle may be formed with a tab suchas shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, although during the cutting from astrip it is desirable that the opposite shingles be the oppositeshingles in this modification 1 displaced as shown, it is clear thatthey may be formed directly opposite each other, with, however, asacrifice of the advantages set forth. Other modifications which do notdepart from the spirit of the invention will also be apparent and withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Let ters Patent is 1. The method of cutting shingles ofsubstantially parallelogram shape with tabs at corners thereof from astrip of material including forming transverse and longitudinal cuts inthe material and further cuts to form the tabs, diagonally disposedshingles being out of diagonal alignment with each other and the tabs ofthe shingles so diagonally disposed abutting each other.

2. The method of cutting shingles of substantially parallelogram shapewith tabs at corners thereof from a strip of material including formingtransverse and longitudinal cuts in the material and further cuts toform the tabs, diagonally disposed shingles being out of diagonalalignment with each other and the tabs of the shingles so diagonallydisposed abutting each other, each shingle having a truncated cornerwith an edge formed along a diagonal thereof.

3. A shingle comprising a body portion of substantially quadrilateralshape having a tab at one corner thereof adapted to be folded beneaththe body portion of the shingle, an adjacent corner of the body portionbeing truncated to form a stepped edge, the part of said edge nearestthe tab being extended farthest outwardly and outlining a projection onsaid bod portion, the said projection being adapte to engage with thetab of a similar-shingle of a superjacent tion being truncated to form asteppe course.

4:.=A shingle comprising a body-portion of substantially quadrilateralsha e havin a tab at one corner thereof adopted to be fol ed beneath thebod ortion ofthe shingle, a pair of slits being ormed in the sides ofthe shingle at the ends offthe fold line of the tab, and an adjacentcorner of the bodly poredge; the partof said edge nearest the tab beingextended farthest outwardly and outlining a projection 011 said bodyportion, the said projection being adapted to engage with the tab of asimilar shingle of a superjacent course. j a In testimony of whichinvention I have hereunto set my hand, at Maurer, N. J., on this 3rd dayof January, 1928.

{WILLIAM FREEGARD.

